Two of Time Magazine’s most influential people in the world, Ann Patchett and Elizabeth Gilbert come together on the occasion of their new books.

When Gilbert and Patchett - whose latest works are the novel The Signature of All Things and a collection of essays entitled This Is The Story of a Happy Marriage, respectively - take the stage at LIVE from the NYPL, the evening will be not just a conversation between two literary stars, but an intriguing dialogue between two friends about writing styles, sources of inspiration, and more.

The friends recently discovered they were writing novels about the same topic. As Patchett explained to Gilbert: “this friend of mine, who happens to be you...[was] writing a novel about the Amazon, and then you decided not to write a novel about the Amazon, and then I started writing a novel about the Amazon, and later when we compared notes (your book dismissed, mine halfway finished) they had remarkably similar story lines, to the point of being eerie. I thought this must be because it was an incredibly banal idea and we had both come up with a generic Amazon novel, but then you told me that ideas fly around looking for homes, and when the idea hadn’t worked out with you it came to me.”

Ann Patchett is the author of six novels, The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft, The Magician’s Assistant, Bel Canto, Run, and State of Wonder, and three books of nonfiction, Truth & Beauty, A Friendship, What now? and, This is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Patchett has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including England’s Orange Prize, PEN/Faulkner Award, the Book Sense Book of the Year, The Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the American Bookseller’s Association’s “Most Engaging Author Award.” Her books have been both New York Times notable books and New York Times bestsellers. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages. In November, 2011, she opened Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tennessee, with her partner Karen Hayes. She has since gone on to be a spokesperson for independent booksellers, talking about books and bookstores many places, including, “The Colbert Report.” In 2012 she was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Elizabeth Gilbert is the acclaimed author of five books of fiction and nonfiction. Her short story collection, Pilgrims, was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award, and her novel, Stern Men, was a New York Times Notable Book. Her 2002 book, The Last American Man, was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She is best known for her 2006 memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, which has been published in more than thirty languages; a film based on the memoir, starring Julia Roberts, opened in August 2010. Her most recent work, Committed – a memoir of marriage – was a # 1 New York Times bestseller. In 2008, Time magazine named Gilbert one of the most influential people in the world.

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LIVE from the NYPL is made possible with generous support from Celeste Bartos, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos, and the Margaret and Herman Sokol Public Education Endowment Fund.

Morgan Stanley is proud to partner with The New York Public Library to present the fall 2013 LIVE from the NYPL season.